The fog gradually lifted from below.
A white tunic, golden sandals.
"You… you're!"
That frail, sickly boy from earlier!
…Or so she thought. But it wasn't. It was a young man, the kind of man that boy might have grown into. Only his hair was different. The boy had had silver hair, but this man's was golden like the sun—just like Julius's.
"Nice to meet you, Queen Candidate of the Kingdom of Sibareth."
The young man blinked his crimson eyes and smiled. At last, the fog cleared completely, and his full appearance was revealed—on his forehead was a long, bright red horn. It gleamed ominously, and its tip was razor-sharp.
"...You're… a unicorn…"
No one had ever told her that unicorns could transform into humans. Maybe it was in that book, Unicorn Habits, if only she'd read the whole thing?
"Of course, all those little ones you met just now are of our bloodline,"
the young man said, as if reading Mia's thoughts, with a sneer.
"So now I get it. All those humans who went to meet half-blood unicorns and died—this is how they were killed, huh? A way to murder people without getting your hands dirty?"
The unicorn youth shook his head slowly.
"You must've felt it earlier—we only like to play tricks. We don't actually kill. You're still alive, aren't you?"
"Then what about the people who died?"
"That's a misunderstanding. In the records you saw, they said no one won against us, right? But I don't recall it saying they died."
"But it did say if you're sexually impure, you can't talk to a unicorn and you'll be impaled and killed by the horn…"
At that, the young man let out a short laugh.
"If we're being precise, the order is reversed. Most of the humans who came to kill us and take our horns were already that kind of person. That's probably how the rumors started."
"But just now, didn't you say you can't stand improper women either?"
"Well, that's true. But more importantly, you've brought something quite interesting."
"Something? What do you mean?"
"Fur from a relative of ours."
Ah—that lock of Gaia's mane Julius had given her! Mia had brought it tied to her waist this morning. The young man grinned slyly.
"Thanks to that, you had it easier. Foolish humans who came here with no preparation had to roll around all day before barely making it back."
"Why do you even go to such lengths to mess with humans?"
Mia shouted in frustration. The unicorn then slowly stroked the sharp horn on his forehead.
"Well, that's because ninety percent of the humans who come to find us are after this. They say it's good for medicine or whatever."
Mia couldn't help but burst into laughter. The unicorn glared at her.
"And the other ten percent are humans like you—idiots who come for some kind of test or wager."
Mia snapped back.
"I didn't come here because I wanted to! You know that!"
"Either way, it's the same. So, what now?"
"What do you mean?"
"Didn't our noble Grand Vizier ask you to bring this back?"
The unicorn youth lifted a handful of his golden hair and flashed a playful smile.
"Ah… right."
"What are you waiting for, then? Take it."
He was smirking now. Mia grew irritated. He didn't look much different from Julius—maybe she could just ask Julius to cut his hair instead? Damn it.
"What do I have to do for you to give me a bit of that? Let's not fight. Let's talk this out."
"Pft. You think you could win in a fight?"
Seeing the unicorn's smug expression, Mia decided to try looking as pitiful as possible. First, she'd try negotiating. If that didn't work, she'd cut some off with the ancient sword and make a run for it.
"Exactly. I couldn't win, so please. What do I need to give you?"
"There's nothing someone like you could offer me—no, wait. You're that special human, aren't you? The one who entered the water where a fairy underwent molting…"
"Th-that's right."
"Then how about this—go meet the fairy of Muria and find out why the Lake of Moonlight is slowly drying up, and how to fix it."
"Only the fairy of Muria knows that? No mage does?"
"The materialistic people of Sibareth don't know anything about what's happening here. The Lake of Moonlight is connected to Muria's secret passage, so they would know."
"The fairies?"
"If they knew, do you think I'd be sending you to ask?"
Mia thought hard.
She probably wouldn't get another chance to meet the fairy of Muria anytime soon… but for now, she decided to agree.
"Fine."
As Mia nodded, the unicorn's crimson eyes gleamed, and he spoke in a threatening tone.
"If you break your promise, I won't let it slide. Remember—breaking into the royal palace of Sibareth would be child's play for me."
"Okay, I got it. Do I have a deadline?"
"One year. You have one year to resolve it. Starting today."
With that, the unicorn vanished into the light, as if melting into it. All that remained in his place was a faint halo of radiance.
Suddenly, she felt a strange sensation against her palm. When she looked down, a long strand of golden hair—no, a lock of the unicorn's mane—was wrapped around her fingers like a snake.
Mia gently tucked it into her clothes and set off for the palace.
A short while later—
From the middle of a decaying strawberry field, a red lizard slithered out. It looked up at the sky, then transformed into a vermilion wyvern of flame and took to the skies.
"…It is indeed the mane of a unicorn. It's neither human nor any other animal's hair."
Roland, wearing a monocle, sprinkled white powder over the hair Mia had brought, then announced his conclusion.
The members of the bloodline who were watching looked surprised, and the king smiled in satisfaction.
Only the Grand Vizier, Jakiel, responded coldly.
"Are you certain?"
"Yes. I have a sample of unicorn mane. The same components were detected."
"Amazing, truly! You are the first person in all of Sibareth to meet a ferocious half-blood unicorn and return unharmed! Not even in Naizman!"
King Minophon beamed with delight. But Jakiel answered gruffly.
"Your Majesty, if I may, let's be precise. All of them were after the horn. One must kill to obtain the horn, but the mane—couldn't it be acquired simply through conversation?"
"Exactly. Which proves no one has even succeeded in having such a conversation. So then, what was it like speaking with the unicorn? Did it try to harm you?"
"No… It wasn't as difficult as I expected. Lord Julius taught me well in how to handle divine beasts."
She didn't want this conversation to drag on. Nor did she wish to talk about the deal she made with the unicorn. So Mia quickly steered the topic to Julius.
"Yes, there's nothing Julius can't do. He's truly a flawless candidate to succeed me… As a reward, I'll grant you a few days of vacation. Rest well."
King Minophon smiled benevolently.
"You truly are the exceptional talent I believed you to be. Since you've passed the unicorn's trial, we will no longer pursue the matter in Muria. Please stand by until your next assignment."
The Grand Vizier spoke in an emotionless tone.
As Mia headed off to dinner with Lily, someone came running toward them in the corridor. It was Julius.
The moment she saw him, Lily darted away again with lightning speed.
"Welcome back safely."
"Th-thank you. It's all thanks to your great guidance. And Gaia's mane helped too."
"I must say, hearing such words from you is deeply moving."
Julius said this as he kissed Mia's hand.
A few passing maids glanced at them sideways. Feeling awkward under their gaze, Mia tried to pull her hand away—but once again, Julius didn't let go.
"Just as you said… I've decided to take it slow. To be more considerate of you as I approach."
"..."
"I'm not the kind of person who regrets my choices or changes my mind. I won't be like that with you either."
As Mia said nothing and simply stared at him, Julius gave a faint smile and finally released her hand.
"…You don't need to answer now. Then…"
His tall figure strode away into the distance. Mia stood there, watching him absentmindedly.
She had a nagging feeling in her chest, like something troublesome was about to begin.
That evening, Leca listened excitedly to Mia's tale of adventure.
Pretending not to know the whole story was difficult. But he did his best—widening his eyes, laughing with her, even getting angry with her as if he were hearing it all for the first time.
"For something Jakiel planned so ambitiously, it turned out to be kind of underwhelming, don't you think?"
"That's because you, Lady Mia, are simply amazing."
"Well, that's true. As for the fairy… I'm sure I'll meet them within a year."
"By the way, you do know, don't you? Tonight… the full moon will rise."
Mia nodded with a touch of tension.
"I know."
"In any case, you've been through a lot today. Please get some sleep. I'll come wake you in four hours."
"But the passage is said to be inside a swamp. You can't go into water, Leca."
"That swamp is very small. So, I have my ways."
"I can go alone. Really. I don't want to drag you into this."
"Please get some rest. You'll need it later."
With that, Leca left.
After he was gone, Mia set her alarm clock for two hours later.
She awoke to its blaring shriek.
It felt like she had only slept ten minutes, but two full hours had passed.
Forcing herself to stand through the crushing fatigue, Mia changed clothes.
Thanks to the wings of the Fairy King, she had flown all the way to Sibareth in one go—otherwise, doing all that adventuring and then sleeping only two hours would have been impossible.
It was dark outside.
The thought of going alone to a crocodile-infested swamp at night made her feel dizzy.
Not from fear, but from how utterly exhausting and annoying it all was.
Even so, Mia stretched hard.
Then she opened the window and, with the bright full moon shining high above, launched herself into the sky without hesitation.